Favorite Armenian Dishes ...

[winoman]

I would certaily say that I have had fresh made Armenian Lamajoon that kicks any made by others by a country mile - with fresh ground lamb and spices right from the garden! Also no one can hold a candle to Armenian made choereg! (I can just smell it freshly baking now!) - no one! (and I have a very touching personal story about his I will perhaps tell in a bit here - don't know if I've already told it here or not...)...same for fresh made Armenian string cheese! the best! Armenian Soojook and Basterma - also demonstratably the best/unrivaled IMO/from my experience...and Armenian pilaf! - except perhaps mine... ...and I am sure you are all familiar with Armenian wedding pilaf with dates and raisins (more Armenian fruit! )...and last (for now) but certainly not least - Armenian chese boreg

[karoaper]

While jams and preserves are certainly not originally Armenian, the producer "Ararat" makes some of the most delicious preservs out there. There's a palestenian store in Albuquerque whose owner orders xxxx load of Ararat jams. When I fitst went there I almost died when I saw the young walnut preserve. I remember my mom and other women from our building getting together every summer and cooking fresh young walnut in huge tubs for a week on end. Afterwards, the young walnut preserve was born. You eat the whole walnut. Sweeter thing you haven't tried. I wonder if other countries do young walnut preserves. Other Ararat jams that are great are fig, yellow cherry, apricot. Man I love that xxxx.

[ddd]

My mom still makes walnut preserves, and I can easily eat a bottle by myself. She also makes the strawberry and orange preserves which go extremely well on some bread with hot chai on a cold day. Actually, just thinking about it gave me the biggest relief and sense of relaxation, which is amazing considering the workload I have this week.

Though I don't have a favorite Armenian food, Armenian Weddings/family get togethers would have to be where I enjoy 'Armenian cuisine' the most. There's arguably no better feeling than eating 15 different types of dishes, each complimenting each other extremely well, and leaving you knocked out with a buzz of happiness and joy.

Armenians absolutely love food, and we love it in big portions. My non-Armenian friends can attribute to this as well, Armenian food is rich, satisfying, fattening, and leave you with a constant smile on your face with no worries of any sort.

[Lamb Boy]

... and I love the sticky/crunchy stuff with the butter in the bottom!

OMG! Wino that brings back some memories seriously! That was how my grandmother would make her pilaf. I could never figure how to replicate the crunchy, literally fried rice that would form in the bottom of the pot. I figured, from memories of watching her take the pot out of the oven, that she was probably just keeping the rice warm while the rest of the food finished cooking. Next I thought that the butter used (read a whole lot! lol) was seeping to the bottom of the pot as it sat in the oven staying warm, thus frying the bottom layer of rice. I tried my theory with minimal success. I had some crunchiness but not even close to the entire bottom of the pot. From what you posted I now think maybe the rice was entirely cooked in the oven, which would make better sense really.

I totally don't know what Xorovats are in all honesty ... feels like I'm missing the boat! Ich sound really good as well ...

Thanks for the recipe book info btw!

Armenians absolutely love food, and we love it in big portions. My non-Armenian friends can attribute to this as well, Armenian food is rich, satisfying, fattening, and leave you with a constant smile on your face with no worries of any sort.

I can totally attest to this fact. My mom was almost less than 100lbs when she met my dad ... to say the least she’s not quite that small anymore. She LOVES Armenian food and although she is of a European background she cooks up more Armenian food than anyone else in my family ... well maybe not my uncle but definitely more than my dad or sister.

... But no one can prepare them like we can!

Without a doubt! We have a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants here in Detroit and some of the places just RUIN recipes that I regularly enjoy in the Armenian style. I've paid $16 for a shish plate that had two skewers of the DRYEST toughest lamb meat EVER with a very small handful of pilaf and like three pieces of veggies. I know shish is probably anything BUT Armenian but I've had other dishes as well that just plain SUCK! Dolma can vary GREATLY from one place to another and Armenians seem to be more on the savory tip with that dish than anyone else imo. Still the best hummus has been from this area ... so creamy and smooth no chunks bumps bits of chick peas ... like butta ... chick pea~tahini butta!

[winoman]

Xorovats is shish kebap - (I probably spelled it worng however...)

And yeah I hear you about the dried out lamb kepabs that many of these afghan places try to pass off...the (fresh clay oven) bread is ussually quite good however. Of all the non-Armenian kepabs I've had I think I enjoy and have had the best experiences with the Persian style (moist with lots of sumak & lemon). I do a very mean shish myself and in fact am attempting to secure a supply of local American lamb that i can rely on so I don't have to deal with the inferior Australian product. Luckily for me we have a Lamb growers (not sur eif that is the right word?) association right nearby and they are very cool - even supplying info on the specific types of lamb anbd lamb products available at the different area farms that participate - and there are quite a few. Ah - yeah - some of my best childhood memories revolve around family get togethers where the Xorovats seemed to endlessly come off the skewer and the pilaf was fluffy and buttery and the cheese berog was rich and flakey and eveything smelled and tasted so good!

Antother food that I think Armenians do better then others (though perhaps its preference) is various Paklavas - oh yes - buttery and delicate verus all syrupy soaked and heavy...(sorry Greeks - but yeah as good as your Baklava is - Armenians just do it better)...and for all this pride and talk of/in Turkish Donner as the national dish and such...as good a donner as I've ever had - and many have been sensational (but like the Afgans ruinuing Kebaps - the Turks very often serve their donner way too dry IMO) - Greek Gyros - when done true by those who know - are simply the best/unbeatable (and even better then Lebanese [or Armenian] Shawerma IMO - though I've had some good ones...)

[1womanARMY]

Are any here familiar with eech (or Ich)? It is somewhat like tabolee but tomato (sauce) infused and less liquidy. To my knowledge this dish/variation is particular to Armenians (and from only a particular area in Anatolia - though i don't know where - my guess would be in the Cililcia region. It is a personal favorite that we often make here by the bucketload where we can munch on it - sometimes 3 meals a day until we get tired of it and it runs out...then we get a craving for it all over again and make up another batch. Best with fresh parsely and tomatos of course....I do a version with about 6-7 different kind of peppers in it - ussually i make it with whatever I have on hand from our garden or that I pick up at the local farmers market...(mostly sweet or just mildly hot..I'd love to do a really spicy version sometime though - but never have...)..

EECH...ahh yes, That's rather yummy...my mom makes in wonderfully!!! What region it is from, i don't know...but most yerevatsi's and parskahyes are dumbfounded when i say eech...they respond with "EENCH?"

[Siamanto]

Many of them can be considered Armenian. Actually, they should call them "Anatolian" or "Balkan" dishes. Bosnia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia, and surrounding countries mostly eat the same stuff we do. But no one can prepare them like we can!

True. In some cases as far as India (dzadzik or djadj@kh) and France (turlu and the French ratatouille.) However, there are dishes that seem to typical to Armenians - i.e. I don't know another nation that prepares them, but may exist - such as "djid abour."

Dishes I particularly like - different families - depending on the region of Western Armenia - may call them differently:
1- Vosbi abour - I've also heard "teghin abour" and "vartabedi abour." Prepared with broken lentils (it's yellowish.)
2- Madzounov kofteh - kofteh with filling prepared in a soup of rice + yogurt
3- Djidabour - it takes almost a day to prepare it
4- Potato+kofteh cooked in the oven
5- A family of soups prepared with either chick peas or lentils with pasta - many variants - tomato paste, garlic and lemon
6- Similar to the above with lentil and a kind of vegetable instead pasta
7- A boulghour pilav that my Grandma used to prepare with tomato and zucchini
8- Sou boreg - few people get it right. It's exquisite with goat cheese because of it's taste and consistence
9- Dolma, sarma
10- Turlu or the French ratatouille
11- Dzadzig/Djadj@kh
11- Vosbi pilav - prepared with large lentils and boulghour
12- etc. etc.

Now either I am completely ignorant (entirely possible)

Did you have to state the obvious? That seems to be an understatement.

[LadySilver]

I make many Armenian dishes for my family but it is very rare that I actually like them. I'm an extremely picky eater. The only dish I would say that I like is Dolma other than that a salad.

[TomServo]

I make many Armenian dishes for my family but it is very rare that I actually like them. I'm an extremely picky eater. The only dish I would say that I like is Dolma other than that a salad.

Not a dolma fan.

[LadySilver]

Not a dolma fan.

=P Oh well